Tesla Headhunting Top Auto Execs In Lead Up To Model S Launch

Tesla’s managerial past has been a tumultuous one, with a number of CEO changes, white-collar job cuts and even a lawsuit with one company founder Martin Eberhard all taking place in the past 12 months or so. Today we have some good news in regards to Tesla’s latest management shuffle, with two auto industry veterans with deep engineering and manufacturing expertise joining the company.

The first is Peter Rawlinson, Tesla’s new chief vehicle engineer and the person primarily responsible for the technical execution and delivery of the Model S all-electric sedan. He previously led vehicle engineering at Corus Automotive, an advanced engineering consulting firm.

Some of his prior projects involved the Jaguar X-Type, Land Rover LR2 and LR3, Ford Fiesta, Honda Accord, BMW 5-Series, and Bentley Continental, so his expertise is widespread. Furthermore, Rawlinson’s previous work on the Think electric vehicle also set a new world record for best crash safety performance in the subcompact vehicle class.

The second new appointment is Henry Brice as program director for the Model S. Previously, Brice was assistant chief engineer of the North American Fiesta program at Ford. He also served as assistant chief engineer for Ford’s full-size sedan platform, including the Crown Victoria, Grand Marquis and Town Car Vehicle lines, while also managing as many as seven product launches per year.

With such talent on board things are looking promising for the upcoming Model S, plus there’s more to come. Sitting on a fat $465 million cheque from the Department of Energy, Tesla currently has more than 150 job openings and is interviewing candidates at all levels.